Letters to the Editor

Several readers asked Linux Journal about the registered trademark symbol after
Linux, in particular after noting the R[registered] symbol after
Linux on IDG Books' Linux Secrets, written by
Naba Barkakati. The book's cover says: “Linux is a registered
trademark of William R. Della Croce, Jr.” Is there really a
registered trademark on the word Linux?

Funny You Should Ask...

IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. told Linux Journal they did a trademark search as they always do when deciding
what to put on a book cover, and although surprised to find a
registered trademark on Linux, they printed the information
resulting from their search. Their intent was in no way to
reinforce the registered mark, but to comply with trademark
requirements.

In July 1996, we at LJ tried to contact
the person who had filed for the trademark, Mr. William R. Della
Croce, Jr., via phone and left a message giving our e-mail address
and telephone number. Mr. Croce responded by e-mail with a brief
note, stating that “LINUX” was proprietary to him and that we
would be hearing from his attorney.

We e-mailed Linus Torvalds about the matter. Linus reiterated
his determination that Linux remain in common use or be trademarked
by some trustworthy organization or individual.

We investigated the trademark, which was filed for August 15,
1994 and registered September 5, 1995, with a first use date of
August 2, 1994. Since this date is long after others have used the
term “Linux”, it seemed there were ample grounds for protesting
this trademark and we began gearing up to do so.

In August 1996, Linux Journal and other
Linux companies reported that they had received letters from Mr.
Croce informing them that:

LINUX ® is proprietary. Information about
obtaining approval for use and/or making payment for past use may
be obtained by writing to the following address:...

Yggdrasil Computing filed for a trademark on their
book title Linux Bible in March 1995. Their
trademark was turned down because Linux was already a trade name
registered to Mr. Croce. In March 1996, Yggdrasil Computing filed a
letter disputing Croce's trademark and showing that Linux was a
generic term and that Yggdrasil's use was prior to Croce's in any
event. By the time you read this, we may know the results of this
action. Other companies and individuals are getting involved in the
trademark issue as well, and we will try to keep you
informed.

Check our web site at http://www.ssc.com/lj/ for the latest
update on the Linux trademark.

—Belinda FrazierAssociate Publisher

X-cellent Resource

In your September issue's Letters to the
Editor Ethan Wellman wrote that he had problems with X.
So have I, and so it seems, have a lot of people. Your reply was
appropriate, but would have been more helpful if you had suggested
he contact the XFree people at http://www.XFree86.org/.

I am an experimental physicist and much of the work I do
involves data analysis and simulations on computers. I have
recently begun using Linux on my home PC and on a PC at work and I
have really become a big fan of Linux. However, much of my “real”
work is still done on commercial workstations (with commercial OSs)
from DEC and SUN. It appears to me that Linux could definitely
become a low cost alternative to these workstations.

There are two things I would really be interested in seeing
in Linux Journal:

Some kind of comparison of Linux on various
platforms to commercial workstations, i.e. benchmarks, software and
hardware availability, etc.

Comparison of Linux on Intel Pentium, Pentium Pro
and on the DEC alpha chips. Now that several commercial vendors are
advertising systems that run Linux on alpha chips in your journal,
I think it would be very useful to people interested in buying
these to have an idea of the pros and cons of Linux/alpha vs.
Linux/Intel.

I have been very impressed with the (VMS) alpha machines in
our lab and I am seriously considering the purchase of an
Linux/alpha system.